I listen to Dan Miller's podcasts a lot and so should you. As a matter of fact, the majority of what you are about to read comes directly from one of them.
Dan has a free eBook to download on his site entitled, "48 Business Ideas". (The link is at the end of this article). Most of his list of small business ideas cost no money to get started and a lot of them are simple ones that are very doable for just about anyone.
In the first hour after [the interview] aired on the Dave Ramsey show, there were 6,685 people who got that free download.
People are looking for things that they can do. Now, the follow up to this story is how many of those 6685 people will take action on an idea. An interesting thing I will hear people say is, "Well, I went through everything and they are fine, but none of those things fit me."
A Big List of Small Business Ideas
I talked with someone in a store about the ideas and the man said he went to all of them as well as the 999 ideas listed on a link in the ebook and another one with 101 of them.
So we're talking well over 1000 ideas. He said none of those things fit me because I am a technology guy. I thought, "You have to be kidding. How could you possibly not see 200 of those ideas where you could attach your technology skills and make it better than anything that I could describe?"
If you readily object to hundreds and hundreds of ideas then you really need to go look in the mirror and ask that person there, "What are the obstacles between my own two ears that are keeping me from seeing anything that is being possible?"
At that point it has nothing to do with the economy, has nothing to do with who's hiring; are we in a recession, depression, none of those things matter. What you have to recognize is there is something that is holding you back. Is it fear of failure, is it the lack of knowledge, is it the fear of ridicule of other people if you fail? What is it? You need to get to the bottom of that because it is just not that tough to find an idea that can work.
No, do not drop your career or job to pursue one of these ideas. Just recognize that you can create additional or starting income if you do not have any ... today.
There are things you can do. There is a lady who went to WalMart and got a bucket and squeegee for less than a $5 investment and with one of her children went up and down one of the main thoroughfares in the Nashville area washing windows of businesses and found she could effectively make $40-$50 per hour doing that.
You can do that, anybody can do that, so start with that. You do not need a lot of money to start a business. You do not need a lot of expertise. You do not need degrees, licenses, or certifications. You just need to take action on something. The final thought is that you can do something. No matter what your situation, no matter what your circumstances, you can do something today to create income.
Start with that and build on it; and once you get a little bit of success, that opens the door. Success breads success. When you get a little bit of success, it gives you the confidence you can get even more. It is a whole lot more difficult to make your first $100,000 per year than it is your next $500,000 a year. It is tougher to get to that point because there are belief obstacles to get over. Once you get to that point you say, "Wow, it is possible,"
It is like the old story of Roger Bannister running a four minute mile. Prior to that a physician said it could not be done, that the human heart would explode if you got close to a four-minute mile. Roger Bannister did that in 1954 and that immediately opepened the door. In the next year, there were about 12 other runners who did that. There were eight college students at one track meet who ran a sub-four-minute mile.
Now, what changed? Did the human body evolve during that one year period of time? No. We simply changed the belief and people suddenly realized, "Yes, it is possible." So the belief level changed and sometimes some of us need that kind of experience. We need to have our belief level changed so we really do believe it is possible. Start with small things and when you experience success, it will open your eyes to the possibilities and you can move on from there.
So, what about you? Take some action steps on this list of small business ideas, at least one or more of these ways to make extra money. Download Dan Miller's 48 Business Ideas ebook now and get busy.
